Get Ready for Spring Planting. UMass Extension Classes Open for Enrollment

Source: UMass News & Media

UMass Amherst’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) is now enrolling a range of classes on everything from pruning fruit trees to managing pollinator friendly habitats. These online classes are open to the public.  

Spring is around the corner — which means that many of us are thinking about the planting, growing, maintaining and harvesting that we’ll be doing, imagining beautiful tomatoes and crisp apples. To help make gardens and orchards as productive and healthy as possible, the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (CAFE) is offering a range of seminars and webinars, open to the public and enrolling now.

These offerings include: 

Pollinator Steward Certificate Program: Enroll now in a 10-hour course comprised of 30 lectures featuring 14 instructors who are experts in everything from the pathogens that afflict different pollinators to the specific plants that ensure a healthy habitat. Cost: $199 through February; $249 beginning March. Read more here. 

Mass Aggie Seminars: Through this series of Zoom seminars and workshops, the Fruit Team provides a platform for small-scale backyard growers and agricultural enthusiasts of all types to come together to learn the latest developments in fruit production. Each seminar has a $45 fee. 

February 15, Insects, Pests and Beneficials: Join Extension faculty member Jaime Piñero in an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) workshop and learn how to make beneficial insects and insectary plants your garden’s best allies. Discover eco-friendly pest control tips that blend nature’s own predators with smart gardening strategies, including cultural controls like trap cropping. With these techniques, you can keep your plants thriving with little to no insecticides. Perfect for homeowners and orchard enthusiasts, this fun, hands-on session will show you how to create a healthy, vibrant garden and keep pests at bay, naturally. (Some materials will be mailed to participants for them to implement IPM at home.) 

February 22, Ecological Weed Management in the Home Orchard: Weed origins and management will be discussed during this workshop, led by Maria Gannett, that will help you to identify weed species and understand the tendencies of some of the species you see in your own orchard. Ecological weed management and the different strengths and weaknesses of several weed control methods will also be covered.  

March 1, Orchard Sustainability Through Integrated Pest Management: Join Extension educator Elizabeth Garofalo to discuss what sustainability means within the context of orchard production. Finding the balance of orchard sustainability in the space where community, environment and economic health come together will also be discussed. 

March 22, Orchard Pruning: The joy of growing apples in the home garden is enjoying a renaissance. One of the key steps in successful apple growing is the act of pruning the trees. This can seem daunting and complicated but is not, once you understand the principles involved. Join Extension educator Jon Clements online and learn how to properly prune fruit trees (primarily apples). The concepts discussed also apply to pears, peaches and other tree fruit. 

March 29, Home Orchard Establishment: Horticultural topics covered include the basics of planting apple trees, including site selection, choice of variety and rootstock, planting best practices, tree training and pruning, fertilization and ongoing fruit tree care. While the focus of this session is primarily apples, the concepts discussed also apply to pears, peaches and other tree fruit. 

CONTACT: Elizabeth Garofalo, egarofal@umass.edu
                    Daegan Miller, drmiller@umass.edu